Snow or ice build-up on utility lines is responsible for numerous failures every year. The weight of snow or ice causes lines to break or utility poles, cross-arms or other fittings to fail.
Such failures are costly, due to utility outages and the costs of repair. Power outages of many hours and even days are common in some areas.
While proposals have been made for automated devices that operate to remove snow or ice from utility lines, to the Applicant's knowledge none of these has been successful.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,035,111 discloses a device that fits between the cross-arm of a utility pole and an insulator carrying an electricity line. However, the device relies on a complex mechanism that is unlikely to work well in icy conditions and is unlikely to survive many years in field conditions. Further, this device is unsuitable for retrofitting to existing poles and insulators and will create unacceptable twisting forces on the cross-arm.
Reference to any document in this specification does not constitute an admission that it is prior art, validly combinable with other documents or that it forms part of the common general knowledge.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved method and/or device and/or system for removal of snow and/or ice from utility lines, or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
In this specification the term “utility lines” refers to overhead lines or cables, such as power or electricity lines, telecommunications lines (including Internet lines), cable television lines and the like.